The BC Alliance Honours Black History Month
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Image: Explain Black, by Halifax-based artist Buseje Bailey. | Buseje Bailey/Library and Archives Canada.
February is Black History Month in Canada, a time to mark the legacy of Black Canadians, past and present. For the BC Alliance, that means celebrating notable figures in BC’s cultural history, as well as honouring the Black members of our artistic communities.
Here are some resources and upcoming events for those looking to celebrate the many impacts of Black Canadians on arts, culture, and society at large:
The Government of Canada has put together a resource page for those seeking more information on Black History Month, including videos, educational aids, histories and more.
The BC Black History Awareness Society celebrates the accomplishments of Black people in British Columbia year-round, and features a list of events upcoming in the Metro Victoria area.
Also in Victoria, the African Arts & Cultural Society will host the first edition of the Regional Black Canadians Forum, which aims to “create a road map for black communities in B.C.’”
Here’s a 2019 opinion piece by Ashley McKenzie-Barnes on the importance of elevating contemporary Black Canadian visual artists.
Importantly, here’s artist Tonye Aganaba on the tokenizing effect created by occasions like Black History Month, and why it’s important to recognize the voices of Black artists outside of BHM.
Aganaba joins forces with Naomi Gracechild to present in Root; an Afrocentric art experience, which launches February 7. Root will explore aspects of Black identity on Coast Salish territories honoring art as a vehicle for social change and collective liberation. Check it out all month at the Commercial Street Cafe.
Amanda Parris of CBC Arts has compiled a list of events that “deeply engage Black life through art,” including those in British Columbia.
Here are four books by Black women authors turning 20 this year, also from Parris (an award-winning author in her own right).
Want to mark the occasion through poetry? Fiona Tinwei Lam reviews Chantal Gibson’s How She Read for The Tyee, noting that “visual art and text work together to provide a layered understanding of the effects of omission and oppression.” Gibson also has a new exhibition entitled A Grammar of Loss: Studies in Erasure opening at Open Space in Victoria, February 21.
The Museum of Anthropology at UBC is hosting a series of events as part of their Celebration of Canadian Black HERstory. Find out more here.
American in focus but still relevant: Dianne Lugo and Isabella Rosario of NPR’s Code Switch have generated a playlist of stories focusing on the history of Black Americans, illuminating subjects like sports activism, LGBTQ+ history, and more.
UBC Okanagan’s African Caribbean Student Club is presenting a series of events open to the public at the Kelowna campus, including an afro-hair workshop, an Afro-Caribbean spin class, and more.
At the Richmond Art Gallery, Karin Jones and Amy Malbeuf present Labour’s trace. Jones, an artist of African descent living in Vancouver, and Malbeuf, a Métis artist based in Nova Scotia, work with traditional and contemporary materials and techniques that encourage discussions regarding labour, identity, cultural knowledge, and cultural legacies.
For the little ones, Big Dreamers: The Canadian Black History Activity Book for Kids Volume 1 is the first in a series celebrating the inspiring contributions of Black Canadians who overcame adversity and went on to achieve greatness while changing the course of history.
The list above is by no means comprehensive. Take some time this February (and the other 11 months of the year!) to recognize the invaluable artistic and culture contributions of the Black members of our communities!
